An economy's Lorenz Curve reveals that an economy's highest income quintile has 65% of the economy's income while the lowest income quintile only has 5% of the economy's income. Solely based on the Lorenz Curve, is this distribution of income fair? Why or why not?

Principles of Microeconomics
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ISBN:9781305156050
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
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Chapter20: Income Inequality And Poverty
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1. An economy's Lorenz Curve reveals that an economy's highest income quintile has 65% of the economy's income while the lowest income quintile only has 5% of the economy's income. Solely based on the Lorenz Curve, is this distribution of income fair? Why or why not?

 

2. To combat income inequality and to generate increased tax revenues to fund expenditures, government officials decide to aggressively increase how progressive income taxes are, so much so that the top income earners are marginally taxed 90% of their income (and while this marginal tax rate may seem oppressive, these top income earners still have more than enough income to satisfy all of their needs and all but the most extravagant of wants - basically, these earners have more than enough money). Argue why this tax policy is a fair approach to fund government expenditures. Why might this tax policy fail to achieve its objectives (tax revenues would actually decline as a result)?

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